The Assassin
by Rusty532
Summary: Meet Thunder, a 12 year old girl who's part panther. She's a daughter of Zeus, and is one of the most toughest warriors at camp. And when an assassin threatens to destroy someone in the camp, Thunder leaps into action, ready to save the day. But the assassin's target isn't clear, and Thunder will discover that the target is someone very different...
1. The Tank

**(Hello, everyone! Welcome to…*Drumroll*… THE ASSASSIN. If you haven't read my stories before, well, meet Thunder, a 12 year old girl who is part panther (A.K.A, Hanther). She's a daughter of Zeus, half-sister of Thalia, and best friends with Percy, Annabeth, and Thalia. The Assassin takes you on a journey filled with laughs, of friendship, and running. Running fast. **

**Listen to Thunder.**

**There's much to tell, my friend.**

**Please, no flames allowed!**

**By the way, you may have noticed that I stick Thunder around 12 or 13 years old, even though I'm 15. Well, I loved being around those two ages, so that's how old Thunder is.**

**By the way, THIS IS BEFORE CHIRON DIES!**

**Just wanted you to notice :D Okays, enjoy the story!)**

** Chapter 1**

** The Tank**

I cursed silently under my breath as I pumped again and again, and still, nothing. Such a lovely job, trying to get the tank for the toilets working. Oh, hey, my name's Thunder. I'm 12, with brown hair and gray eyes. I also get little flashes of yellow in my eyes, like lightning in a storm. Daughter of Zeus here. Yep, my dad's a Greek God.

Enough of me.

Kinda.

Right now, I was working on the tank because for some reason, the harpies had an addiction to flushing the toilets over and over again and watching the water in the bowls go round and round. Then, one harpy went physco and flushed the toilet quickly. It wouldn't wait for the water to go down. So then, all the harpies followed. SURPRISE! Tank overload.

So, that's why I'm here, trying to fix the dumb tank. Why a 12 year old girl? Because I'm part panther, a Hanther. I can lift up stuff normal humans or demigods couldn't. Being a Hanther was pretty awesome…except for that time I got caught in panther form at Central Park and was shipped to a zoo. That was not cool.

I kept on pumping and pumping, not sure what to do. Uh, hello? Earth to Camp Half-Blood? Making a 12 year old Hanther who knows absolutely nothing about tanks try to fix one is a bad idea. I knew NOTHING about tanks. The only thing I could do was pump some more and curse.

Well, this was just great.

I was down on the very last floor of the Big House. Yes, it had a basement, but nobody at camp except for me, Chiron, and Mr. D knew about the floor under it. Chiron thought assigning me to go down was the best choice, sent I was part panther and could lift stuff up.

Load of bull.

I got so angry and smacked the side of the tank.

That did nothing either.

I sighed and looked around the last floor. It was dark and dank. The air was kinda misty. It was wet and cool, which felt really good on my skin. Believe me, if you had been sword fighting with Percy for the last half-hour, you'd be dying to find something to cool you down. There wasn't a whole lot down here. The room wasn't very big. There were a few crates in the corner, and the only thing I was down here for was the tank.

That's when I noticed a note attached to the crates.

I didn't know what it was. It couldn't have been that old, since the edges were smooth and strait, and the ink writing on it was fresh. I could smell it from here. I wiped my hands on a handkerchief and walked over to the crates. I picked up the note and began to read.

Child suspects nothing, my lord. She does not know I am here. I'll have her dead soon, my lord. I will not fail. You wanted a report on my work. Here it is:

I have been here for a couple of months now. I blend in with the other demigods. I have been searching for her, and I have spotted her. It's only a matter of time before I corner her, and I'll kill her. I won't fail, my lord. I promise. I swear it on the River of Styx!

Your Assassin.

Oh…

My…

Gods…

AN ASSASSIN?!

I was shocked, from head to toe.

Assassin?!

Okay, Thunder, calm yourself. Maybe this note is old. Maybe it looks new, but it's really old. Extremely old, and the gods are playing tricks on you. Or maybe a friend is playing a trick on you. It's just a joke. Maybe…

But I ran a finger along the word 'Styx'. The ink smudged, and some came off onto my finger. No. This was fresh. The ink was wet.

The Assassin could still be in here!

I swallowed a scream and shot up the steps.

Forget the tank! I'll have a talk with the harpies and tell them to never flush the toilets over and over again!

I got onto the main Big House floor and left the place, trying to locate Chiron.

It was a warm summer day, the kind that isn't too hot, and it had a nice cool gentle breeze. The sun felt good on my back, and I was tempted to stand there all day and soak up the sun's heat. But I couldn't. Not with an assassin on the loose. And it was a demigod…in the camp. It left no warning to who it was going to strike to, but whoever it was, I swore secretly that I wouldn't let them die.

I found Chiron in the arena, and I ran over to him, the note in my hand.

"Sir!" I said. "Can I talk to you in private?"

"Of course, Thunder," Chiron said, and he led me back to the Big House. We stood on the porch, and I told him all about what I found. I handed him the note, and he inspected it for the longest time. Finally, he turned back to me. "It was fresh?"

I nodded, swallowing hard.

Chiron looked at the setting sun. "We cannot alert the camp, but I will make sure that there are more guards tonight. An assassin…Keep a close eye, Thunder. We may need you for later use."

I nodded again, and I got the feeling he dismissed me.

So I left Chiron to read the note and think some more.

And after all that, everyone forgot about the tank.


	2. The Blade

**Chapter 2**

** The Blade**

I watched Percy's every move, waiting for him to strike. I held my two swords, Firestorm and Bonecracker, in a defensive position. _Come at me bro, _I said, my eyes shooting to his legs, then to his arms, then to his wrists. Just waiting for one twitch of the muscle…

Instead of a strike or anything, there was the sound of panting.

Percy and I lowered our weapons as Will ran into the arena, his eyes wide and sweat dripping off his forehead. He dove behind a rack of weapons, and then decided that the rack wasn't a good enough place to hide from…whoever he was hiding from. Then Will spotted the two of us, and he ran over.

"Clarisse!" He panted. "The Stoll brothers…They stole one of her knives and set it in our cabin. When Clarisse spotted it, she went ballistic…Help!"

Before, I had thought that he somehow knew about the assassin's note, and I was ready to panic. But then, after he told us his problem, I was ready to laugh. The Stoll brothers were always up to no good! There was this one time I let them have ten bucks. One week later, I went to bed and found my bunk filled with these fifty cent rubber rats.

Yeah, big mistake I made.

So, Clarisse was ready to rip someone's head off. Nothing new. But we had to help Will hide from her…That was the problem. Clarisse was kinda nice when ya got used to her, but still, the first time I had met her, she made me drink toilet water, which is as disgusting as it sounds.

"A cabin, maybe?" I said. "You could hide in the-"

"THERE YOU ARE!" Someone screamed. I turned to see Clarisse, heading towards us at a million miles per hour.

Oh…

Gods…

"RUN!" I shouted the only that came to mind. The other things that came to mind were a bunch of swear words, and some pretty nasty ones at that.

Will, Percy, and I shot off like bullets, not even daring to look behind us.

Then there was the good news. And the bad news.

The good news is, she didn't go for me.

The bad news is, she went for Will.

Clarisse finally caught up to Will and pinned him to the ground. She started twisting his arms in painful ways, making me and Percy wince. Then we ran over, but before we could reach Will, a crowd of demigods gathered and started chanting "FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!"

Percy and I tried to push our way through the crowd, but it was too thick. We couldn't get through, and I felt horrible. Will needed our help, and we couldn't help him. The only thing we could do is leave as we heard the screams of Will. And we didn't want to.

We kept on trying, over and over.

Then we gave up.

We had no way to get to Will, and I hoped that the gods would have mercy on him. Will was a nice guy. He didn't need broken arms.

We left for the beach, where Annabeth was waiting. She smiled at us, and then saw our expressions. Long story short, we explained.

"Well, that's just great," She sighed. "I hope Clarisse won't hurt him too bad."

Just then, the Stoll brothers came, laughing. They didn't even see us, since they both had their eyes closed. And they were running. Travis was running right towards me, and my brain went into quick processing mode…Yep, I was gonna do it.

WHAP!

I had just held out my fist, and Travis ran into it. Face first.

He now lay on the sand, holding his face in his hands. Connor stopped wisely in his tracks, his eyes now open.

"That's for what you did to Will!" I said.

Travis stood up, no problem, and he looked at me with mischief in his eyes. Ah, great. Let the pranking on me begin.

But, surprisingly, he left me alone, and he and his brother left, but they kept on talking, and I knew they were now thinking of a way to prank me.

I sighed and took out a book, the cover in ancient Greek.

It said: 

The History of Greece.

Now, where was I?

I didn't even read one sentence when there was a loud bang. I looked around, alert, and found the Stoll brothers will firecrackers in a bucket. They were about ten feet away, and I growled at them, setting down my book in the sand. They knew I hated noise.

"Thunder, don't…" Annabeth warned. "Think Amnesia. I'll let you play Amnesia on my laptop. Just don't kill them. Don't kill…Think thoughts like…kittens."

Kittens…

Yes…

I love kittens…

BANG!

The Stoll brothers were rolling around, laughing. Okay, boys, remember the rubber rat incident? Here's my payback…

I roared and turned into a full blown panther and launched myself towards them. Connor hopped into Travis's arms, both of them screaming. Travis dropped Connor and ran the other way, tripping over his brother first. It was hilarious to watch.

I fell on my back laughing, trying so hard to get back my senses. But I had lost them. Completely. I was laughing so hard that I was choking to death at the same time. Okay, Thunder, stop choking to death. Get a hold of your senses…

Still, even after a couple of minutes had gone by, I was still laughing a little.

"You see," I asked, chuckling. "What I did there?!"

Sure, it was cruel.

But what they did to Will was even crueler. Clarisse is strong and fearless, never afraid to go into battle. She is the fiercest warrior at Camp Half-Blood, easily ticked off. I tell you, if someone tried to mug her, they'd be pleading for their life in seconds.

. . .

I gazed up at the stars, searching for the constellations my friends had taught me. But that was getting boring, so I decided to practice a few moments with my sword, Bonecracker. After a few minutes, that got boring, too.

I was on guard duty, and Peleus and I really had nothing to do. So I decided to talk to him, since I was part animal and could understand animals quite easily. But the dragon beat me to it.

_Do you have any donuts? _Peleus lifted his head drowsily and looked over at me, his eyes gleaming tiredly.

"Sorry, no," I said.

_Darn, _Peleus settled back down.

Wow…

That was a long conversation.

I was about to speak to Peleus when the ferns rustled in front of me. I got into defensive position and raised my sword, ready to strike…Nothing. But I wasn't going to let my guard down. And Peleus had noticed it too. He was on his feet (paws?) and growling, looking from side to side.

Another minute…

"Must be the Wind God toying with us, pal," I said.

_Yeah, _Peleus agreed. _I hate wind._

Before he could settle down again, a blade shot out of the ferns and landed at my feet.

I backed away from it, startled, and then looked around wildly, ready to strike an enemy if necessary. But nobody came out of the ferns. All I knew was that there was a blade at my feet. And with horror, I realized something.

The blade was covered in blood.


	3. The Trail

** Chapter 3**

** The Trail**

I gazed down at the blade for a minute, and Peleus did too. Then, I picked it up and started running for the ferns. I know it was stupid. But someone was in there, injured or worse…It didn't matter if I came face to face with the assassin. I could hold them off. I mean, come on, a girl who could turn into a 700 pound panther? That's pretty deadly.

I found the trail quickly. All I had to do was sniff it out.

The trail was blood.

I ran towards the source, hoping to help the person who was injured or…If the person was dead, then there was nothing I could do about it.

_Need a ride? _Suddenly, Peleus swooped down, grabbed me in his talons, and put me on his back.

"Thanks," I said. "Now let's find the source!"

Peleus had a pretty good nose, and he found the source, all right.

I jumped off his back and went into the woods.

And screamed.

I will admit that.

Because the person lying in front of me, gasping in pain, was none other than Annabeth Chase.


	4. The Second Note

**Chapter 4**

** The Second Note**

I crouched next to Annabeth, who gazed up at me with fear in her eyes.

"What happened?!" I demanded.

"I was walking through here…" She started, but then she gave a shudder and fell unconscious. Oh no…I had to help her! I had to get her back to camp, and we had to heal her! Already, I could imagine the look on Percy's face when he saw his girlfriend in pain.

He was gonna flip out.

And I already was, since Annabeth is my best friend.

"Peleus!" I cried.

The dragon landed next to me. He helped me get Annabeth onto his back, and then he took off, me having a little bit of trouble hanging on and keeping Annabeth with me. But I kept her on Peleus's back the whole time, and we landed in camp, a crowd starting to gather. Peleus coming into camp is rare, so everyone wanted to see what all the commotion was about. And people gasped.

"ANNABETH!" I heard someone shout. I turned to see Percy rushing towards me. He took Annabeth off of Peleus's back and held her, bridal style, I guess you could say. "Annabeth?" Percy asked, looking close to tears.

"She's unconscious, Percy," I assured him. "We have to get her to the infirmary! Quick!"

Percy and I hurried off to the infirmary, people moving out of our way for us, calling out their best to us. Even Clarisse looked a bit worried herself. Then angry. "I'll kill whoever hurt her!" I heard her vow. "I won't let them go without a price!"

We got to the infirmary, and Chiron was there, tending to Will's wounds. They weren't much, but it was his arms that got me worried. Both were broken. Ouch.

Chiron turned with a smile, but when he saw Annabeth, the smile was gone and replaced by worry. "Set her down on that bed!" He commanded Percy. Percy nodded and set Annabeth down gently on another bed, and Chiron began tending to her wounds.

It was the first time I got a real good look at Annabeth.

There was a gash in her side, a pretty big one at that. The blood was soaking the bed and the sheets and some even went down the side of the bed and onto the floor. Percy paced continuously, and I kept rapping my knuckles on a bed post.

Finally, Chiron sighed with relief. "She'll live."

Percy and I high fived and cheered.

"But she'll need a lot of rest. She won't be able to go out for a while. If anyone wants to visit her, you'll have to come here. She's lost a lot of blood and…" Chiron swallowed. "It may take a month before all the blood is restored."

At that moment, Annabeth raised her head weakly. She spotted us and shifted away as best she could. There was fear in her eyes.

"Annabeth?" I said. "It's us."

"I know," Annabeth replied. "Get away."

Percy, Chiron and I were confuzzled.

"Annabeth, it's us," Percy said. "We aren't going to hurt you."

Annabeth relaxed a little, but shifted away from Percy when he tried to touch her shoulder.

Chiron sighed again, this time, without relief. "She's in shock," He explained. "It may take a while for her to even let us near her."

Percy held out a hand, and Annabeth gazed at it for a minute. Finally, she slowly and weakly touched his hand with her own. His fingers laced through hers, and Annabeth relaxed, her trust in her boyfriend back.

I leaned over to Percy. "Try to get her to tell you what happened."

Percy nodded but didn't look away from Annabeth. Their gazes were locked on each other, and it was another minute before Annabeth let Percy hold her in his arms. They were whispering to each other, and there were some moments when Annabeth had the fear in her eyes again and she would cling to Percy like he was her savior.

Perhaps he was.

Finally, Annabeth settled down and closed her eyes.

Percy didn't stand up, since Annabeth was still in his arms. So I leaned down.

"She said she was walking through the woods to get something for the harpies. Some sort of ingredient for a recipe," Percy whispered to me. "Then she was attacked. The figure was a male, and it had covered its face in mud. It stabbed her in the side and slashed. That's all. She refuses to talk anymore about it."

I stood up and reported this to Chiron.

He looked troubled, and I saw he was in processing mode. Finally, he spoke. "Both of you may go back to your cabins."

I nodded and started for the door, but I noticed Percy didn't move one inch. "She made me swear on the River of Styx to stay with her tonight," He said softly.

Chiron nodded slowly. "Thunder, move that bed please."

I nodded, turned into a panther, and started pushing, while Percy got onto the other bed with Annabeth. Soon, the bed was right next to Annabeth's, and Percy got onto the new bed. The two were curled up together, Annabeth's head resting on Percy's shoulder.

"I'll stay here as well," I said, looking at Percy for permission.

Percy nodded slowly, but he whispered, "Find a bed on the other side of the room. I don't want Annabeth to freak out or anything when she wakes up."

So, it was this night that I found the second note.

I walked over to the other side of the room and found…

A note. Under the pillow.

I looked up to see if anyone was watching, then I started reading.

_I am sorry, sir. I thought it was her, but it was Annabeth Chase. Too bad I didn't kill her. I guess I wasn't thinking at that moment. I'll somehow manage to kill the child, I promise. But I have now lost sight of her. And please, stop switching the places where I set the notes. It's confusing. First the Big House last floor, and now here? It's going to give me a headache! I want a raise if this is continued!_

_ Your Assassin._

The assassin.

Somehow, I wasn't surprised that he had stabbed Annabeth. I had a feeling it was him all along. Boy, when I found him, I'd make that son of a gun plead for his life! I'd…

Shut up, Thunder.

When you catch him, you can torture him all you want.

For now, get some sleep, and try not to think about this.

I'll tell Chiron in the morning…

I tried to get to sleep. I really did. But I didn't feel safe on this bed. The assassin's master could come by and find that I'm sleeping on the note and kill me. I wanted to protect whoever was getting assassinated. So I switched to a different bed. Then I started making a list about who could get assassinated…

Annabeth was off the list.

And Percy couldn't be on. He was a guy, and the first note stated that the target was a girl.

Clarisse? HA! Good luck on killing her, Mr. Assassin Dude.

Piper? Uh, yeah, no. I would protect her with my life. She's one of my best friends.

Thalia? She wasn't even at camp!

Hazel was a Roman…

Drew? Oh, now I'd love to see that! The assassin comes to kill her and she lectures him on the mud on his face.

The thought nearly made me burst out laughing, but I had to keep my mouth shut or else Percy would skin me alive if I woke Annabeth. I decided to continue on with my list.

Jen? Geez, she'd be the same way as her half-sister, Drew.

Don't laugh, don't laugh…

Michelle? I don't know…Michelle can handle herself in a fight, but would that be enough to fight off an assassin? She was well known around the camp for being really nice, so she could be the target…I secretly hoped not. The first few days that I had arrived at camp, she had offered to play Frisbee with me. She was one of the first friends I ever made at camp.

There was Carly…She is pretty popular around the camp, but she's the same as Michelle: She can handle herself in a fight. And plus, she's pretty nice.

Geez, there was a lot of girls on the list. I hoped none of them (except maybe Drew: She once tried to choke me to death with perfume) got assassinated. Drew I hated, but I still would try to protect her…I guess. Unless she tries to shoot me with the laser lipstick again.

I fell into sleep, vowing that I would try to protect the girls at camp.

But there was also one last girl at camp. One that I hadn't thought of before.

Me.


End file.
